Prompted by Cushman and Grabill's call to "ask and answer the difficult questions" about service learning ("Reflections" 2009), this article addresses the difficult question of "what happens when service learning goes wrong." Authors engaged in family history writing and service learning with a local historical group. When the project was unable to be sustained, authors theorized a three-part methodological continuum of "expectation," "reality," and "rectification" to articulate the merits of failed attempts at service learning. (Contains 1 endnote.)